


mustard seeds

by aviouseul



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, ambig jaemin vamp & hyuck witch, finding romance in walmart's candle isle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:14:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25732678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aviouseul/pseuds/aviouseul
Summary: Canine to skin, Jaemin to Donghyuck
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	mustard seeds

"I thought you said you needed eye of newt."

Donghyuck hums, barely sparing him a glance. Standing under Walmart's flickering lights Donghyuck picks up two bottles: McCormick and American Spice. "I do."

Jaemin rolls his eyes, focusing them on the ends of his hoodie. There's a few threads sticking out - he'll have to do something about that soon. "We're in the spice section of a retail corporation. Aren't there like, Witch Supercenters? Something a little less capitalistic?"

He doesn't have to look up to know Donghyuck's amused. It's a conversation they've had before, a back and forth that comes up every time Donghyuck manages to wrangle Jaemin out of his apartment. _Fresh air,_ he says, eyeing the nuclear power plants and bare skeletons of apartment complexes as they drive through, _or at least as fresh as we can get._

Jaemin doesn't think the air in his apartment is particularly stale, but the slight scrunch of Donghyuck's nose as he purges the fridge makes a convincing enough argument. It's habitual, by now, watching Donghyuck prod at blood bags and crack open the windows. Moon rays makes a home out of his features; highlights the tip of his lips, the dip of his collarbones.

_Look,_ the moonlight says, _look at this boy. Isn't he beautiful? How couldn't he be ours_?

And when Jaemin turns to the window, the moon crescents, like this was a prank well played.

Jaemin looked away. Thought it better to ignore the domesticity of this - whatever this is - and grab his keys before his thoughts catch up to him. Turn the engine on, let the gasoline hide the lingering scent of something more sinister. Push his finger against his canine; is this why Aurora placed her finger against the spinning wheel despite the warning signs? Was she running from something, too?

The clatter of glass against the grocery cart brings him back to reality. Donghyuck, satisfied with his choice, puts his hands on the handle and pushes the front against Jaemin.

"Which one did you get?" He already knows.

Donghyuck breathes out a laugh. The sound bounces off of the scuffed tile. "McCormick."

Of course it was. Jaemin looks at what they have: a box of cereal, another glass bowl - _I didn't know I couldn't put it over open flame!_ \- a bag of sour patch kids and red vines.

"I still don't know why you buy those," Jaemin says, taking a hold of the cart before Donghyuck can turn it into a weapon for violence. He makes a point of picking the Red Vines up and sticking his tongue out, just so Donghyuck knows exactly what he's referring to. The bag is out of his hands and back in the cart before Jaemin can get another word in.

"They're superior to just about any other licorice out there." A lie. Donghyuck likes Twizzlers, always have. When they were still teenagers, Jaemin growing into gangly limbs and Donghyuck growing into his style - all theatrical black robes, smudged eyeliner, and platform leather boots - Donghyuck would buy a pack of Twizzlers from the convince store and eat them on their way to - wherever, really. 

He'd pull them apart the same way he tears limbs from frogs. Jaemin's no anura, but there's a part of his brain that wonders if he'll ever be next; if one day, Donghyuck will see something beady-eyed and jumpy.

He maneuvers the cart out of the way. Donghyuck lets out a huff but follows Jaemin anyways, always one step behind. He leads them to the candle section and ignores the laugh Donghyuck gives. "Key Lime Pie? Or," he squints at the label, "Cranberry Mandarin Splash?"

"Neither of those sound real." Donghyuck pauses to think. "Wouldn't Key Lime Pie smell bad? At least there's _some_ security in berry scents."

Jaemin considers. "Key Lime could smell like home."

Donghyuck shudders - a full-body one, starting from his head and travelling down to his toes. The grin on his face makes it less believable. "I think we should put that one back. There's gotta be something better."

"You're right," Jaemin hums. He picks up another candle. "Fresh Lime and Cilantro is the obvious choice here."

That makes Donghyuck laugh, head thrown back, jaw sharp, hand over his heart. It's not funny, in the scheme of all funny things, but too many three a.m.'s do that. Make unfunny things into funny things, unlikeable things into likeable things, unnoticeable things into noticeable things.

Like how Donghyuck bites the insides of his cheek when he's preparing for a summoning spell, or how Donghyuck sticks his tongue out when choosing which brand to buy mustard seeds ( _eye of newt!)_ from. How there's always a dagger hidden beneath his clothes, strapped to his leg, just in case there's something he needs to open, how low-cut shirts show off his clavicle piercing, and how he jumps between Enigma to Paramore to Ace of Base without a problem.

How Donghyuck, everyone's Fullsun but _his_ Donghyuck, looks best in the candle isle with his ratty pajamas. The light cradles his head and if Jaemin blinks, he would say it's iridescent.

As quickly as the moment came, it leaves.

It's this: Jaemin, candle in hand. Jaemin, heart in his throat. Jaemin, still veins divaricating, olive branch, hand reaching towards Donghyuck.

And it's this: Donghyuck's blinding smile challenging a sun soon to rise, Donghyuck moving towards Jaemin, Donghyuck reaching back.

They walk through the candle isle, hand-in-hand. Stories shared, quiet moments lost to an empty store.

In the end, they decide on Vanilla and Pumpkin Pie. There's a joke there - something about the smell of an aunt's house over Christmas. They move towards the self-checkout, mention how they could work cashier with all the experience they have. Pick up, scan, bag, repeat. Apartment, car, store, repeat. 

When they leave, the moon looks down at them. _Look_ , it says, _how beautiful things are under my light._ This time, Jaemin looks. There's no room for disagreement, not when Donghyuck looks back at him like that.

Needle to thread, finger to spinning wheel. Canine to skin, Jaemin to Donghyuck. Aurora woke up, too. 


End file.
